Synonyms and antonyms of Illegal or dishonest in British Thesaurus

illegal (adjective)

not allowed by the law

unlawful (adjective)

something that is unlawful is illegal, especially something that would be considered legal in a different situation

shady (adjective)

secret and probably dishonest or illegal

wrongful (adjective)

unfair, or illegal

unconstitutional (adjective)

not allowed or not legal according to the constitution (=set of official rules or principles) of a particular country or organization

unauthorized (adjective)

not officially or legally allowed or approved of

improper (adjective)

not legal or honest

illicit (adjective)

not allowed by the law or rules

underhand (adjective)

British secret and dishonest

clandestine (adjective)

formal secret and often illegal

actionable per se (legal)

legal if a legal case is actionable per se, you do not have to prove that you suffered loss or damage in order to take the case to court

actionability (noun)

the condition of being actionable

actionable (adjective)

if someone’s behaviour is actionable, it is so bad that you could start a legal case against them because of it

against (preposition)

if there is a law against doing something, it is illegal

against the law/rules ()

not allowed by the law/rules

backdoor (adjective)

secret and usually dishonest or illegal

backstairs (adjective)

informal secret and usually dishonest or illegal

backstreet (adjective)

done secretly or illegally by people who are not very skilful

bootleg (adjective)

bootleg goods are made and sold illegally

convicted (adjective)

proved to be guilty of a crime by a court of law

corrupt (adjective)

used about societies or systems

counterfeit (adjective)

counterfeit bank notes, products, tickets etc are illegal copies made in order to trick people

criminal (adjective)

relating to illegal acts

criminal (adjective)

used about people who often commit crimes

deceptive (adjective)

something that is deceptive seems very different from the way it really is

deceptively (adverb)

used for saying that something is different from how it appears

delinquent (adjective)

behaving in a way that is criminal or immoral

dirty (adjective)

using dishonest or unfair methods

felonious (adjective)

mainly American relating to a serious crime such as robbery or murder

fishy (adjective)

not completely right, honest, or legal

fraudulent (adjective)

made with the intention of tricking someone, especially illegally

funny (adjective)

dishonest, or illegal

guilty (adjective)

legal someone who is guilty has committed a crime

hot (adjective)

informal stolen and being looked for by the police

illegality (noun)

formal the state of being illegal

illegitimate (adjective)

formal not allowed by the rules or laws

larcenous (adjective)

American relating to larceny

lawless (adjective)

a lawless place, period of time, or society has no laws or has laws that no one obeys

libellous (adjective)

containing written statements about someone that are not true

libelous ()

the American spelling of libellous

off the back of a lorry (British)

British used about something that is cheap or free because it was probably stolen by the person who gave it to you

on the right/wrong side of the law ()

doing legal/illegal things

pirate (noun)

made by copying something illegally

punishable (adjective)

a punishable act will be punished because it is illegal

seedy (adjective)

connected with activities that are illegal or morally wrong, and often looking dirty or unpleasant

slanderous (adjective)

containing or using slander

smell (verb)

to be illegal or dishonest

tortious (adjective)

relating to a tort or punishable as a tort

treasonable (adjective)

considered to be treason by the law

underground (adjective)

secret and usually illegal

under the counter ()

bought or sold secretly and illegally

under-the-counter (adjective)

bought or sold secretly or illegally